


Undue Attention

by Cumberbatch Critter (ivelostmyspectacles)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Assassin's Festival, Insecurity, M/M, Noct tries to give advice, Self-Conscious Ignis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 00:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12023880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter
Summary: It doesn't do to be self-conscious of his body - and having no real "reason" for it, to boot - but the fact remains that Ignis is.Noct takes a little while to realize it.





	Undue Attention

He hadn’t noticed at first, too excited by the atmosphere and the costumes and the fact that maybe, just _maybe_ , he was standing in the same exact spot where previous Assassins had stood. But it had only taken waking up late in the morning, the last one awake after he had carefully crawled into bed next to Ignis when he and Prompto had finally returned to find their companions already asleep, for him to properly realize that something was wrong with Ignis.

Mostly he was making a face as he came out of the bathroom, fingers sliding beneath a leather strap to tug it into place. His posture wasn’t right, either, really; shoulders slumped, chin down, arms drawn up to his chest. Like he was uncomfortable, maybe? Noct had never really been great at reading body language.

“Specs,” he greeted, preparing himself to drag himself away from his pillows.

Ignis looked like he might have jumped, just a little, before turning to greet him. “Noct. Sleep well?”

“Yeah…” The Leville was so comfortable. The mattresses were soft and he could sink right into them. It was like sleeping on a cloud… but no, he’d just woken up. He had to drag his eyes back open, and scrub a hand against them to try and wake up. “You?”

“As always, although a bit sweaty,” Ignis said, and then continued on. “I didn’t hear you come in last night. You must have been out late.”

He had managed to get himself propped up on an elbow. “Yeah, we were okay. Sorry if you stayed up.”

“We anticipated that the two of you would be taken in by the sights.” There was the most brief of smiles, something wry and amused simultaneously. And then it was gone, somewhat all too quickly. Ignis’s dry humor usually lingered a little longer.

Noct propelled himself up the rest of the way. “Hey, you okay?”

“Perfectly. Why do you ask?”

“I dunno, you just seem a little… uncomfortable, ‘s all.” He tried to scrutinize him, but he needn’t have; a moment later, Ignis’s guarded concern fell away and he seemed to huff a self-deprecating laugh.

“I apologize, I didn’t know I was obvious. It’s… just this outfit,” he said, glancing down at himself. “Juvenile, but I can’t seem to come to terms with it.”

“Oh.” He had said something, hadn’t he? Being revealing, maybe? Noct had hardly been paying attention, although now he wished he would have. “It’s a good look on you, though,” he said, cracking a lopsided smile. It really was.

“Likewise, Noct, but that doesn’t precisely… help.”

With the pause, almost unconscious or maybe unwilling, Noctis realized just _how_ uncomfortable Iggy really sounded. If he could hear it, hear it from him, no less, he was seriously downplaying the situation. He didn’t want him to be uncomfortable just for the sake of his own amusement.

“You, uh, you know you don’t have to wear it,” he said. “It was just an idea. I don’t want you to be unhappy with it.”

Ignis sighed. “Unfortunately,” he said, “walking around in our usual attire would draw the attention of the empire all the more quickly. It’s nothing I can’t bear, don’t worry.”

“Well, I can’t… not worry,” he murmured. “You… I’ve never seen you exposing so much… skin before, have I?” He couldn’t help letting his eyes roam down Ignis’s torso, over the scraps of leather and fabric that he seemed so uncomfortable in. It was… it was incredibly hot, really, to see him like this, but it lessened knowing Ignis _actually_ didn’t like it.

“Asides from in your personal shower?” Noctis snorted softly, and Ignis continued. “No.” He paused, a little longer than normal. “I’m not… comfortable, showing off my body. Like some people.”

“You can just say Gladio.” They both cracked a smile.

“Like Gladio, then.”

… was there a reason for that? Noctis wondered. It wasn’t physical, not in the way that he and Prompto both had issues over. Not as far as he could see, and he _was_ intimately familiar with Ignis’s body. He had beauty marks across his body– but _beauty_ ; God Noctis liked to trace his fingers around them– and the worst of the scars he had was on his left bicep, appropriately received for intercepting an attack that had been meant for Noct, and it wasn’t even that bad. They all had those kinds of scars. He didn’t think that was the issue… was it?

How did you ask super invasive questions without being super invasive? Or weird? Or worse, making Ignis even more upset?

“Is there a… I mean, you– hmm.”

Ignis’s gaze turned a little more soft, his smile a little more gentle. “Self-conscious, I suppose. Although that’s not really an answer. There’s no reason, if that’s what you’re asking, it just is what it is.”

That was what he’d been trying to ask. Ignis always knew. And Noct was glad that there wasn’t something… some reason, that Ignis had never shared. He would have been horrified if he’d been holding something like that back on his account, but being self-conscious? Yeah, Noct knew a little about that.

“I’m just used to being punctilious, it seems. Being all buttoned-up, as you’d say,” Ignis continued, gently teasing.

“Hey, being buttoned-up looks good on you,” he fired back. “But so does this.” He waved a hand at the assassin’s ensemble. “So does anything.” He fiddled with a loose thread on his shirt. “Uh, remember what you told me when I… uh, my– my scars.”

He arched his back almost on reflex; years ago and years ago they had stopped hurting and even now he thought he could feel the phantom ache of them. He probably could. Or maybe it was all in his head. All he knew was that he still hated them, and hated that people had died because of them, and it had taken him too long to be able to actually show them off to Ignis despite the man having seen him in various states of undress before.

“That you can talk to me whenever you feel uncomfortable, and that no one is judging you. And that if they were, they could bog off.”

“You _honestly_ remember my exact words on _that_ day?”

“So do you.” The prince chuckled. “Not about to forget the time Ignis Scientia told me to tell someone to fu–”

“ _I_ did not,” Ignis interrupted.

“I know what ‘bog off’ means.” He grinned as Ignis sighed, pushing his glasses further up his nose. “But you were right, you know. People probably aren’t noticing you as much as you think and even if they are, I’m pretty sure they’re probably, like, really impressed. I mean, you’re kind of stunning over there.”

Was this how you gave advice? It didn’t sound like the kind of advice that Iggy gave him. God, he didn’t know, he was so bad with words, and Ignis looking at him the way that he was right now– a little too closely, with something like… awe, or something, what the hell– made him want to crawl right back under the blankets. He settled with tugging at his hair, looking away to the windows. “Sorry. I dunno how to do this.”

“… Heh.”

He jerked his attention back to Ignis. Was he… _laughing_ at him?

He was! Hand in front of his mouth like that was going to stop the sound, eyes gleaming with gentle mirth in the sunlight streaming in through the balcony. Oh, that was just rude! Talk about being self-conscious! He was going to jump right over the balcony in about two minutes himself…

… except Ignis was chuckling, looking amused at, yeah, his own expense but it was _so_  much better than being drawn in on himself and uneasy.

“Come on,” Noctis complained sarcastically. “Did you really need to turn the tables on me??”

“Sorry, that was– that was not my intention,” Ignis said, waving a hand. “Amused, is all. It’s not often I get my own advice relied back to me. Thank you, Noct. Truly.”

He shook his head, pushing back the smile of his own. So he’d endure sounding like a raging idiot trying to talk about things that were too serious for him if it meant Ignis could look at him like that. “Yeah, yeah… jeez…”

Ignis stepped over, leaning over to kiss him. It was a bit of a surprise, and not one that Noct was ever going to mind. “You were looking quite stunning yourself just then,” Ignis murmured. “Giving advice suits you.”

“Probably just looked like an idiot…”

“You? Perish the thought.” Another peck to his lips and then Ignis straightened. “Should we be off, then?”

“Yeah. Gotta get ready first.” He swung his legs out of bed, taking Ignis’s hand to help himself up. “Where’s Prompto and Gladio, anyway?”

“They went to look at cars, I believe.” Ignis made to smooth the blankets back as he spoke. “We’ll rendezvous with them later.”

“Sounds good.”

“Indeed.”

**Author's Note:**

> I think Iggy's just apprehensive (in game) because, you know, like he said _new sensation_ but what if he was actually self-conscious? ~~Then imagine how self-conscious he gets _after_ he gets his scars Imeanwhat ~~ anyway, a different take on it!


End file.
